Trump critic Murkowski survives Midterms in Alaska, Sarah Palin also still in the running | Abroad

Alaska has introduced a new system for the Midterms primaries this year. Instead of choosing one candidate from each party to face each other in November, Alaska chose to hold “unbiased” primaries. The four candidates with the highest number of votes, independent of the party, will advance to the elections in November.

With 67 percent of the vote counted, Murkowski is in first place with 44 percent, followed by Kelly Tshibaka (40 percent), who was backed by Donald Trump, and Democrat Pat Chesbro (6 percent). Murkowski lost support from the Trump Republicans a long time ago, but hopes to retain her seat through the support of moderate Republicans, Democrats and independents. The result also shows how divided the Republican party is today, the media emphasize.

For the House election, the eccentric, Trump-backed Sarah Palin is in second place with 32 percent. It is striking how the Democrat Mary Peltola is in first place with almost 38 percent, while Alaska is a traditionally Republican state. According to The New York Times, Peltola owes that result to the support of Native Americans. Peltola herself is Yup’ik, and if elected, she would be the first Alaska Native to serve in the United States Congress. About 15 percent of Alaska’s population identifies as indigenous.

Earlier in the day, Republican Liz Cheney lost her primary in Wyoming. Like Murkowski, she is a strong opponent of Donald Trump and is even one of the only two Republicans on the House of Representatives committee investigating the storming of the Capitol. Of the ten Republican members of the House who voted to impeach Trump, only two are back on the ballot in November: David Valadao (California) and Dan Newhouse (Washington).

Also review: Liz Cheney loses Republican primary in Wyoming